TNT clears post-volcano backlogs in Europe

TNT said there is little to no backlogs in its facilities in Europe, thanks to its road service and contingency plans put in place since April 15, Business Times reported.

It had on last Tuesday resumed flights to and from Europe, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York along with domestic flights in Europe.

"We are doing our utmost to secure commercial uplift from Asia to Europe, along with our scheduled B747 freighter service between the two continents," the company said.

European air-safety authorities had on April 20 agreed to relax flight bans caused by the volcanic ash cloud over Europe. The European Union (EU) transport ministers proposed to divide EU airspace into three zones based on ash concentrations in the atmosphere: a no-fly area, a limited-service zone and an open-skies area.

TNT said it was hoping to return to a normal schedule by the end of last week, pending remaining air traffic restrictions over some parts of north-western Europe, including Finland, Denmark, Ireland, and Sweden.

It will continue to truck air shipments to and from European destinations that cannot yet be reached by plane.

"In Malaysia, backlog shipments were shipped via TNT's Asia Road Network into our Singapore hub and transported to Europe on our 747EF freighters to our air hub in Liege, Belgium," said TNT Express Worldwide managing director Gerry Power.

"Using the seamless air and road connectivity, the shipments will then be delivered from Liege to any of the 39 countries within Europe via the European Road Network."

Power said even though London's Heathrow Airport is now open, in order to clear backlogs faster, many of TNT's shipments destined to the UK will be transported to Liege and from there via road into London, based on a priority agreement with Eurotunnel.

"This is all because of our established Asia and Europe Road Network, our seamless and secure air and road connectivity combined with our sure we can attitude, scale and approach, we can quickly salvage the situation, mitigate the negative impact for our customers and resume normal operations," he added.

In Malaysia, TNT continues to accept shipments that carry up to 7 tonnes per shipment for Economy Express and 500kg for Express. However priority will be given to its Express shipments.

Source: Cargo News Asia